I know that goals are important to have but I just hate them.  I like to try and think of different words to use for goals, like challenge, opportunity, a new focal point, you get the idea.  Every time I formulate a plan in my head, and it  becomes a goal, for some reason it is doomed to failure.  I think I probably put too much into it and when I haven’t achieved said goal in two or three days or seen the results I want to see then I give up.

         Photos by dreamstime

While there are a lot of things I need to do in my life to help make my life better I don’t really want to think of them as goals.  For instance I know:

1. I need to get more exercise.  I am at an age where I am losing muscle mass by the second.  I know how important it is to have more weight bearing exercise in my life.
2. I need to eat more vegetables I know that vegetables are great antioxidants and can ward off cancer and heart disease and bad things like that and are packed full of vitamins.
3. Better sleep is something I really need.  I have terrible sleeping habits.  I can tell such a huge difference when I don’t get good sleep.
4. Finish projects that I start.  Stay focused.
5. Lose weight!!  nuff said.

So with all of that said why can’t we set goals that are fun?  I know what is good for me.  I know that I need to get more exercise and lose weight etc etc.  Most people do.   We know what our bodies need.  But having fun and living is just as important to our well being and our souls.  One cannot exist without the other.  So 5 things, remember I hate that G word, I need to do:  (And these are just 5 of many)

1. Spend more time with family and friends
2. Get a manicure whenever I feel like it
3. Eat a salad and have a chocolate sundae for dessert
4. Start a million projects if it is something I want to do.
5. Enjoy Life to the fullest

Do you set a lot of goals?  How does that work for you?

No matter what

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!

 

What are you afraid of?  I think that everyone fears certain things, like losing a loved one, health problems, war, loss of a job, the corona virus and yes I am afraid of all of those things as well.

But I think that something that I fear even more is not living.  I don’t mean dying I mean not living while I am here on this earth.

What if you live your whole life without taking a chance and trying new things.  I will have to admit I am the world’s worst about holding back and not doing things because I am not sure how they will turn out.  I guess that is most people.

I love to have new experiences, travel, see new things and have adventures but I want the safety behind it too.  And then there are some people who get their “living” from family and home and helping others and that is all they want and need.  Can you have it all?  How?

My daddy worked for more than 40 years in a local steel mill.  Through his years he worked just about every job there.  He never went on a vacation.  Sure he took a week off here and there but he never went anywhere.  We would go to the lake for a picnic and fishing or to the mountains but never overnight.  His family meant everything to him and he felt like the best he could do for us was work and work hard.  He worked hard every single day to provide for us.  He had 7 kids and all he could think of I’m sure is providing for us.  He never saw the ocean.  He never flew in a plane.   I think I remember in all my childhood he called in sick maybe once or twice from work.   It was really something if he didn’t go to work.  He retired when he was 65 and he loved it!!!! He worked in his garden and puttered around the house, and drove my mama crazy ha ha.  But he loved being at home and he especially loved it whenever any of his kids or his grandkids came to hang out.  He loved telling stories about his days at the foundry.

Sadly he passed away only a few years after retiring.   I never felt like he had enough time to just enjoy life and all he could do without having to get up at 5:00 AM and go into that plant. Even if it was just working in his garden and his yard.  The day before he died he told me that there was nothing in this world as important as his family.  It doesn’t matter what you can buy or have, it all comes down to family. He was lying in his bed and I was sitting beside him. We both knew his time was near.   He pointed into the kitchen where my mama was and he said ” we have been married for 52 years, Lisa always be good to people and love and take care of your family.  There is nothing else that important”.   He died the next day but I will never forget those words.

So with all that said I think I am afraid of not being the best person I can be, I am afraid of being lazy about certain things, I am afraid of not living every day to its fullest.  I am afraid of not enjoying life while I can.

Oh!!  One other thing I am deathly afraid of SPIDERS!!!!!  I hate them!!!!!

What are you afraid of???

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!

Today is day 4 of the blog challenge I will get to that in a minute. It is hard to think about much more than what is going on in our nearby Nashville area.

Yesterday I woke up at 5:00 AM and started scrolling through my phone. It was raining really hard, just the kind of morning you want to stay in bed and think of a reason not to go to work.

I started seeing news reports of bad storms in the Nashville, Cookeville area. Tornadoes had touched down overnight. This is about 3-4 hours from me. We had had some rain during the night and a little wind but nothing like what I was reading about.

By 9:00 PM last night the devastation was overwhelming, the pictures were heartbreaking but the unspeakable was that the death toll was up to 22 and 77 people were reported missing!!! These precious people were probably sleeping in their beds when the tornadoes hit. They had no idea what was coming. They had no idea that was their last night on earth or with loved ones. But unfortunately or maybe fortunately that is the way life works. We are not promised another minute.

It has left me feeling so down and heartbroken. It makes me realize how very precious life is. So pull your loved ones close and tell the people in your life how much you love them and value having them in your lives.

What is your dream job? Maybe you already have it. Maybe you had it and have retired from it or maybe it is still an elusive dream.

When I was a little girl I loved watching talk shows.  Go figure, that must be why I like to talk so much.   Do you remember the Merv Griffin Show and The Phil Donahue Show?  I loved watching those. Now that may not seem strange to you but I was only about 8 years old.  Me and my brother would fight over the T.V. in the afternoon after school, yeah we only had one t.v. however did we manage?    He wanted to watch cartoons or something like that and I wanted to watch talk shows.  I was probably about 8 or 9 at the time. He was 6. I also loved watching 20-20 and the Today Show and Good Morning America.   I wanted to be a Newscaster.  I thought that would be the most awesome job in the world.  I don’t know why. Especially at only 8 years old.  Maybe it was sitting behind the news desk delivering the news to people everyday.  Maybe it was having an in on what was going on first thing every morning or in the evening.  I am not sure but that is what I wanted to do.  Still do.  I would love it!!!!  It probably has something to do with getting paid to talk haha.

 Dreamstime photo

Another profession that I would have loved was being in the Circus. I will never forget the first time that I went to the circus as a child.  What did I want to do in the Circus? Fly through he air with the greatest of ease? Nope.  Be a lion tamer?  Heck no.  Be a clown? Interesting to me, but no.  The first time I went to the Circus I was very young. I don’t go any more because of the treatment I feel that the animals endure. But that’s another story for another time. As the lights dimmed and I clutched my popcorn and could barely breathe I was so excited,  I heard a loud thundering roar and a voice yelling, Ladies and Gentleman, Children of all Ages.  It was very exciting!!!!  I saw a man with a top hat in a cart being pulled around the arena.  The Ringleader!!!!  how cool.  That is what I wanted to do in the Circus.  I wanted to be the Ringleader. You  probably see there is a pattern there with talking and even yelling.  Yep says so much I think.

So what was your dream job?  Do you have it?  have you had it?

No matter what,

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!

Why are we shoulding all over ourselves? I first heard this question several years ago from Carrie Bradshaw in Sex And The City. Carrie and her friends had been doing a lot of things they felt they “should” do whether they really wanted to or not.  Well, not Samantha. You know she never did anything she didn’t want to do.  But it makes me think why do we do the things we do? How do you choose?

When you were growing up you probably had a parent or teacher or older sibling tell you that you “should” do something.  Usually it was something that you didn’t really want to do but you knew you should. This is when shoulding is born.  We are really big on shoulding in the south.  To hear someone else say that you “should” just sort of validates it.  As an adult shoulding becomes even more prominent in our day to day lives.

Of course there are things that you have to do right? You have to keep up with doctor appointments,  You have to go to work You have to clean the house and buy groceries and  pay bills and taxes and go to that less than pleasant event that you don’t want to but should.   Shoulding tends to be in competition with the things you “have” to do and things you “want” to do. “I want to” go out with my friends, eat at that new restaurant, go shopping, knit, take pictures or whatever you want to do. Then you have the ‘shoulds” I should be happy about that. I should have gone into work today. I should apologize. I should go to that meeting. I should be more grateful. I should eat better.  So where is that little gray line between have to want to and should?

I have an older sister who does not believe in shoulding.  If she doesn’t want to do something then by golly she just doesn’t do it.  This used to cause her a lot of guilt but I recently noticed that is not the case so much anymore.   I think she feels like she is at an age where she will do what she wants to do and not because she should. Wow!!!  That is powerful.  There is a part of me that is in awe of her like she is some endangered creature to watch and study. I may even be a little jealous, shhhhh.   And then there is that part of me that gets a little pissed off at her when she doesn’t show up for a family event or something that me and my other sister feel that we “should” attend. I guess I am more mad at myself for shoulding than her for not shoulding.

I don’t know the secret  to changing a should into a want to.  I do know that a should  can easily become a have to. And if you do it enough such as exercise, cooking, or whatever that should could even become a “want” to.

Anyway you know what I say,

Love your day your way!!!  You really should!!!